# Imperial or Metric?



## bulbasaur (Jul 22, 2011)

So, here's a completely arbitrary question: Do you use imperial units, the metric system, or a mix in your daily lives?

Me, I use pounds, but don't use ounces or cups (grams and litres instead). I use Pascals instead of bars or PSI, degrees Celcius instead of degrees Fahrenheit, and metres instead of yards and miles. However, I still use acres and square feet, and US paper sizes like letter and legal.


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## Murkrow (Jul 22, 2011)

Metric for pretty much everything, though I think I have a better grasp on distances in miles than kilometres, because of our silly road signs.

I just can't stand imperial because there are so many numbers to remember. Is it 12 inches to a foot or 14? Or is that ounces to a stone? It just gets too confusing!

It's annoying that my parents always ask me for measurements in imperial because then I have to convert it. And everyone from school only do imperial for measuring people's height and weight so there's that too.


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## Zero Moment (Jul 22, 2011)

IMPERIAL
Although Metric makes far more sense.


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## Butterfree (Jul 23, 2011)

I don't think it is humanly possible to prefer imperial if you grew up with metric. Everything is so silly and arbitrary! Why on earth hasn't that system been completely ditched yet?


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## Zero Moment (Jul 23, 2011)

Butterfree said:


> I don't think it is humanly possible to prefer imperial if you grew up with metric. Everything is so silly and arbitrary! Why on earth hasn't that system been completely ditched yet?


Ikr?
If I didn't grow up with Imperial, I would never use it.


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## Chief Zackrai (Jul 23, 2011)

MetricMetricMetric.

Although I use Imperial to make parts and things (yes I am a machinist), I much prefer the Metric system because like Butterfree said (loosely) Imperial is dumb and makes no sense. Who thought twelve was a good base unit? They deserve to be punched. >:|


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## opaltiger (Jul 23, 2011)

Actually 12 is an excellent base unit. All sorts of things divide it. So is 24! Or 60!


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## Tailsy (Jul 23, 2011)

I JUST DON'T KNOW

I use both!! CAN'T THEY JUST GET ALONG? Everything here seems to be half-imperial, half-metric!


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## Zapi (Jul 23, 2011)

The main reason that they haven't gotten rid of Imperial is because it's kinda too late, as some people have gotten so used to it. Yeah, not a very good reason, but that's basically why.

Anyway, I don't have much need to use measurements outside of school, so I can't really say. When referring to my height, I usually use the imperial system because a) it's what I grew up with and b) it's easier to say "I'm five feet" than "I'm 1.52 meters".
oh god i am so short D:

edit: metric is easier though, I honestly can never remember how many feet/yards are in a mile, it's such a random number fffs


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## hopeandjoy (Jul 23, 2011)

I am of course a dumb American, so I use imperial. Metric is a million times easier and makes a shitton more sense, however.


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## Teh Ebil Snorlax (Jul 23, 2011)

Mostly metric but I use imperial for my height and weight.


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## Chief Zackrai (Jul 23, 2011)

opaltiger said:


> Actually 12 is an excellent base unit. All sorts of things divide it. So is 24! Or 60!


Can't tell if you're being sarcastic or serious...

But if you are serious:

Yeah, but ten is _so much more convenient_. And easier to count by. And easier to convert. And lazy person's argument is lazy, but it really does make things go by so much quicker.


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## Glace (Jul 23, 2011)

I was raised with Imperial, so. I would use the much easier Metric, but I'm too lazy.


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## Zapi (Jul 23, 2011)

Glace said:


> I was raised with Imperial, so. I would use the much easier Metric, but I'm too lazy.


...You're too lazy to use the easier system? What.


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## Zero Moment (Jul 23, 2011)

Zapi said:


> ...You're too lazy to use the easier system? What.


Too lazy to switch.


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## Ether's Bane (Jul 23, 2011)

Metric. EVERY. TIME.


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## goldenquagsire (Jul 23, 2011)

I've never used anything except metric. I literally cannot understand measurements in imperial; if you say that something is eight inches long then I have no idea what that is.

The only exception would be measuring distances in miles, and as Rasrap Smurf explained that's because the UK still uses them for some odd reason.


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## opaltiger (Jul 23, 2011)

Sizz-Lorr said:


> Can't tell if you're being sarcastic or serious...
> 
> But if you are serious:
> 
> Yeah, but ten is _so much more convenient_. And easier to count by. And easier to convert. And lazy person's argument is lazy, but it really does make things go by so much quicker.


Of course it is, but only because we think in base 10. Arithmetic would be much easier in one of the other bases I mentioned. The point is, using base 12 makes sense, except that everyone is so used to base 10 that it doesn't really work.


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## ultraviolet (Jul 23, 2011)

Metric, because, yeah. Imperial seems silly. :o


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## bulbasaur (Jul 23, 2011)

opaltiger said:


> Of course it is, but only because we think in base 10. Arithmetic would be much easier in one of the other bases I mentioned. The point is, using base 12 makes sense, except that everyone is so used to base 10 that it doesn't really work.


Actually, I think the only reason we work in base-10 is because teaching children even simple math like counting in different bases would be torturous as the overwhelming majority of children that age have ten fingers.


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## 1. Luftballon (Jul 23, 2011)

I'd rather use 6 as a base, smaller and just as divisible.

but it's not as if imperial units are consistent in using anything in particular anyway, so.



bulbasaur said:


> Actually, I think the only reason we work in base-10 is because teaching children even simple math like counting in different bases would be torturous as the overwhelming majority of children that age have ten fingers.


fun fact: 10 fingers means 11 possible configurations. zero exists, you know.

(five fingers means SIX SIX SIX IS AWESOME GO SIX)


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## Storm Earth and Fire (Jul 23, 2011)

I use US Customary, which for those not in the know, are slightly different from Imperial, though not different enough to cause major problems. The only conversion I remember is 1 US gallon being .8 Imperial gallons.

I have a rough idea of what I am doing in Metric. I remember that one mile is somewhere around 1.6 kilometers. I know roughly how much a liter is and all that. However, it's not very fun to use a system nobody I know uses.


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## Phantom (Jul 23, 2011)

Imperial. I grew up using it and as hard as I could try I wouldn't be able to change, besides it'd confuse everyone else.


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## Superbird (Jul 23, 2011)

1 inch = 2.5 centimeters
12 inches = 1 foot.
1 foot = 30 centimeters
1 yard = 3 feet
1 yard = 90 centimeters
1 meter = 1.111 yards
5280 feet = 1760 yards = 1 mile
1 mile = 1.6 kilometers

...And that's pretty much all I know of conversion from Imperial to Metric. Hopefully that helps...

Now back on-topic, I use Imperial/US Standard so much, but Metric makes SO MUCH MORE SENSE and I wish the US would actually use that instead.


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## bulbasaur (Jul 23, 2011)

sreservoir said:


> fun fact: 10 fingers means 11 possible configurations. zero exists, you know.
> 
> (five fingers means SIX SIX SIX IS AWESOME GO SIX)


Hmm... let's say you start counting in base-11, with "A" representing the additional number: RH 1,2,3,4,5 LH 6,7,8,9,A RH 10,11,12,13,14 LH 15,16,17,18,19 RH 1A,20,21,22,23 LH 24,25,26,27,28

It falls apart quickly.


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## Mad MOAI (Jul 23, 2011)

I live in the U.S., so I'm more familiar with imperial but I think metric makes more sense. I use metric for most things, like for example when I write I describe the distance between two objects in meters, and I prefer to describe my own dimensions in the metric system. There are a few things I use imperial for, but I can't remember what right now.


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## Adriane (Jul 23, 2011)

Mostly metric. Trying to use metric measurements whenever possible. Bit difficult in the US, though.


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## Jason-Kun (Jul 23, 2011)

I use whichever one it is that the US specializes in.


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## Blastoise Fortooate (Jul 23, 2011)

hopeandjoy said:


> I am of course a dumb American, so I use imperial. Metric is a million times easier and makes a shitton more sense, however.


Seriously, this. I wish I knew exactly how much a meter was beyond 'about a yard'. And centimeters are 'about half an inch' for me. It's annoying but I can't very well go around talking in metric to everyone, since they would be understandably confused.


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## opaltiger (Jul 23, 2011)

Wait, what? I knew the US preferred Imperial units, but is it really so bad that people wouldn't understand centimetres?


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## Blastoise Fortooate (Jul 23, 2011)

In elementary school they say 'it's half an inch' and move on, in my experience. :/

I mean, I know that there's a hundred centimeters to a meter intelectually, but I just can't picture it like I can with inches and feet and yard and miles.


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## Storm Earth and Fire (Jul 23, 2011)

Blastoise Fortooate said:


> Seriously, this. I wish I knew exactly how much a meter was beyond 'about a yard'.


One meter is 39 inches, give or take a few miniscule numbers. So three inches longer than a yard.


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## Littlestream (Jul 23, 2011)

Both. I prefer to measure things in Metric, but I can only seem to remember my height (and a few other things) in Imperial. 

And, at least at my elementary school, they did teach us something about Metric eventually... just not enough for us to actually be able to use it very well.


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## Tarvos (Jul 23, 2011)

SI (which is the same as metric). I'm Dutch, so that's standard, and plus; SI makes a fuckload of sense. Imperial is just completely illogical.


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## opaltiger (Jul 23, 2011)

Blastoise Fortooate said:


> In elementary school they say 'it's half an inch' and move on, in my experience. :/


But it's not! It's closer to a third, even. :(


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## Dannichu (Jul 23, 2011)

Metric ALL THE WAY. Oh god, I am so bad with numbers, I struggle with even metric sometimes. I wish time was measured in sets of tens and hundreds because all the sixties confuse me ;;


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## Michi (Jul 23, 2011)

... Am I seriously the only one who finds Imperial to be a lot easier? Oh, and most US citizens do actually understand a centimeter, because there's thirty in one foot and they're on rulers. :D

The US tried to convert to metric a while ago but failed and gave up.


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## Adriane (Jul 23, 2011)

Blastoise Fortooate said:


> In elementary school they say 'it's half an inch' and move on, in my experience. :/


... what. I was taught it's about a pinky length. (Which, then, was accurate.)



Volcarona said:


> ... Am I seriously the only one who finds Imperial to be a lot easier? Oh, and most US citizens do actually understand a centimeter, because there's thirty in one foot and they're on rulers. :D


What, exactly, makes imperial easier apart from growing up with it?

Also it's not exactly 30 cm to a foot, and most Americans don't actually mentally imagine things with centimeters. If I told someone I was 184cm, they probably wouldn't know how tall that is immediately.


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## 1. Luftballon (Jul 23, 2011)

bulbasaur said:


> Hmm... let's say you start counting in base-11, with "A" representing the additional number: RH 1,2,3,4,5 LH 6,7,8,9,A RH 10,11,12,13,14 LH 15,16,17,18,19 RH 1A,20,21,22,23 LH 24,25,26,27,28
> 
> It falls apart quickly.


what? you get 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 a 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 1a 20. 0, 10, 20, and so on aren't on either hand; it's congruent to zero.

(but SIX SIX SIX SIX SIX is awesome SIX)


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## bulbasaur (Jul 23, 2011)

sreservoir said:


> what? you get 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 a 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 1a 20. 0, 10, 20, and so on aren't on either hand; it's congruent to zero.
> 
> (but SIX SIX SIX SIX SIX is awesome SIX)


Mind blown. It makes so much sense for some reason. My childhood is now corrupted.


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## 1. Luftballon (Jul 23, 2011)

well, apart from the fact that, 11, being prime, would kind of suck as a base.


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## Karkat Vantas (Jul 23, 2011)

sreservoir said:


> (SIX SIX SIX IS AWESOME)


brb, using this quote out of context everywhere

I was taught that an inch was roughly two and a half centimeters (2.56, I think). I was under the impression everyone learned it that way? How odd.

And measuring height in metric is a pain in the ass. Bluh.


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## Lord of the Fireflies (Jul 23, 2011)

Metric is much more useful in both scientific researches and everyday life.

WFT FEET AND MPH


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## Whirlpool (Jul 23, 2011)

2.54 centimeters = 1 inch.

But the weird bases of the imperial system are mostly for more exact measurements (i.e. a third of a foot is four inches, whereas a third of a meter is ~.33 meters).

Also: the metric system is technically the United States' official system (and has been for 150 years or so), but the government couldn't get everybody to switch. 

Incidentally the Sumerians used a base-60 number system (which is where we get our time conversions).


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## Michi (Jul 23, 2011)

Alvyren said:


> What, exactly, makes imperial easier apart from growing up with it?
> 
> Also it's not exactly 30 cm to a foot, and most Americans don't actually mentally imagine things with centimeters. If I told someone I was 184cm, they probably wouldn't know how tall that is immediately.


That's just it; I, as well as many other Americans, have trouble learning and using a system different from the one that's been engraved in my mind my whole life. Then there's the fact I find it much easier to state weight in pounds, height in feet and inches, distance in miles or yards, and so on.

And if we want to be really specific, it's 30.48 centimeters to a foot and 2.54 centimeters to one inch. Many people use centimeters to think of shorter measurements. Math and science classes generally require centimeters to be used for everything, and some more advanced classes in mathematics and chemistry use the metric system entirely. But for those we generally are given the conversions beforehand so as to not be confused by the new system, since most of us are so used to the Imperial system.

@Whirlpool: As far as I'm aware, any status of the metric system as the USA's "official" system doesn't matter. Its not just that some or most people couldn't or wouldn't switch, it's that nearly everyone (I'm guessing >90%) uses Imperial and has used it their whole lives because that's what elementary schools and preschools teach them. Most of us in my area learned about the metric system in 7th grade for us advanced students, 8th grade for the average student. From what I gather, that's the norm throughout Illinois and many other states as well.


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## Worst Username Ever (Jul 30, 2011)

Grew up with metric, and it's much, much easier than imperial.


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## Crazy Linoone (Jul 30, 2011)

Used to use metric for everything, but it's sort of hard now that I'm in the US and everything. And now the only metric unit I use is temperature, but only because I never had to learn and use it in school... 



Mockingjay said:


> @Whirlpool: As far as I'm aware, any status of the metric system as the USA's "official" system doesn't matter. Its not just that some or most people couldn't or wouldn't switch, it's that nearly everyone (I'm guessing >90%) uses Imperial and has used it their whole lives because that's what elementary schools and preschools teach them. Most of us in my area learned about the metric system in 7th grade for us advanced students, 8th grade for the average student. From what I gather, that's the norm throughout Illinois and many other states as well.


This very much. Even if it's the "official" system, the government never _tried_ to get people to switch. All we need is something that gets preschools and elementary schools to teach metric along side imperial, or just have pure metric.


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## Dannichu (Jul 30, 2011)

I remember when there was a bit of a fuss when the UK government forced everyone to go metric, and there was a grocer who agued that it was a bit unfair that he wasn't allowed to sell things in imperial measurements anymore when McDonald's was still selling quarter pounder burgers. Fair point, really.


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## bulbasaur (Jul 30, 2011)

Can't they put measurements in metric and imperial? I mean, the McDonald's here puts it as "Quarter Pounder" and in the fine print says " 113 gram beef patty". Here the stores advertise their prices per pound, and print the price per kilogram so small I'd need a magnifying glass to read it. Of course, that's to be expected since the price in pounds seems less.


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## Elliekat (Jul 31, 2011)

I use imperial but only because I live in the US. Metric is about 1000x times easier XD


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## Saith (Jul 31, 2011)

Elliekat said:


> I use imperial but only because I live in the US. Metric is about 1000x times easier XD


Imperial is actually 1728x harder than metric, trust.


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## Ever (Jul 31, 2011)

US customary, but I hate it. Metric makes math easier.


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## Michi (Jul 31, 2011)

Metric can make _some_ things easier, but when you live in the US it becomes difficult and tedious due to th conversions you'll have to make. It's more useful in countries that are already adjusted to it.


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## Negrek (Jul 31, 2011)

Crazy Linoone said:


> Even if it's the "official" system, the government never _tried_ to get people to switch. All we need is something that gets preschools and elementary schools to teach metric along side imperial, or just have pure metric.


Nope!







Long story short, they've been working towards changing the units used in the US for decades now. I remember turning up some litter out in the woods a while back that had only metric units on it and getting a rant out of my mom about the time they were really pushing for people to go metric (sometime in the eighties, I think). If you're interested. Incidentally, I was taught both systems simultaneously in my school.

Metric is by far the superior system, but a lot of people in the US seem to have a hate-on for it. Maybe because they associate it with science class and how much they hate science class or something. Since I do science stuff, I use the metric system a lot, but since that's the only context in which I use it, I don't really "think" metric. I can visualize an inch and a yard perfectly well, but if I get a measurement in centimeters I have to convert it to feet before I have any clue how big the thing is, for example. I try to use meters and so forth when writing, just because I would be so happy if I never had to go look up how many feet are in a mile ever again because we'd be using kilometers, but usually I just slip back into imperial units because they're familiar and how I "see" distances and so forth.


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## Zhorken (Jul 31, 2011)

I was going to say I pretty much entirely use metric, but now that I think about it, that's not really true.  People are often measured in pounds and feet around here, so I think of distances in kilometers and sizes of things in feet, and I don't really grasp kilograms at all.  All mom's recipes (thus my recipes) are still written in weird units.  Other than that, I use Celsius for temperature all the way, but that's the only other thing I ever need to measure (aside from time, but, well.)  I've been trying to force myself to start thinking in metres and kilograms, but it's not working very well.

OH WAIT I can happily say that I never have occasion to use any kind of ounce.  Fuck ounces.  I never, ever, understand ounces and people are like "it's not hard there are just two kinds" but _two kinds of one unit_ is exactly what baffles me.


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## Arylett Charnoa (Jul 31, 2011)

Imperial. Honestly? Neither is easier to me. I don't understand any metric measurement worth a damn, I can't grasp how metric is any easier than imperial. Or vice versa for that matter. I can barely even grasp imperial in the first place. I don't understand any measurement in imperial other than height and weight, and even then, I have a horribly vague understanding of that too and usually tend to mess up at visualizing. 

I'm just balls with measurements all around, so it doesn't really matter to me which one is used. I'd just prefer if everyone went: "That's a lot." or "That's a little." or "That's about the size of [insert object here]" But I know that'd be unviable.


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## Murkrow (Jul 31, 2011)

Dannichu said:


> when McDonald's was still selling quarter pounder burgers.


Solution: make them lower the price to 25 pence.


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## Dannichu (Jul 31, 2011)

Rasrap Smurf said:


> Solution: make them lower the price to 25 pence.


When I was little, I actually thought that was why they were called that XD (mostly because I thought weight-pounds were called "lubbs")

Sort of related: I have an irrational amount of hatred for the selling of 99 Flakes for more than 99p. Beacause, _really_.

Completely unrelated: I was searching the interwebs to find the origin of the 99 Flake and stumbled upon this (and the follow-up here), died laughing and felt the need to share.


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## Zuu (Jul 31, 2011)

i'm american and i don't know imperial. it's fucking stupid.


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## H-land (Aug 3, 2011)

I've grown up in the States, so I'm more used to the Imperial system but I'm trying to get used to metric. I've got some sort of a grasp on what feels like what in Celsius, but I'm not so great with speeds in KPH. And honestly, I'm awful at judging distances or weights in either system, though I have more trouble understanding people when they give their heights and weights in metric units. (Biggest curveball, though: _Stones_. Seriously, stop it. Stop _all the stones_.)


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## Eta Carinae (Aug 3, 2011)

I use Metric for pretty much everything.  Temperature, distances, weights of inanimate objects, etc.  The only thing i use imperial for is height and weight of people, and Pokemon.  Ironically, when I was 5 I received my first Pokemon card.  And if I recall correctly that was the first time I was aware of any measurement systems at all.  Of course, at that time the cards only used imperial measurements.  And I've used feet, inches, and pounds ever since.


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## Pig-serpent (Aug 3, 2011)

I live in america, so I was born with Imperial and everyone else I know uses it.  That means I should learn the conversions so I sound smart around my friends.

But the one thing I don't get is how a mile is imperial, and translates to the imperial 5280 feet, when translated to metric it's 1600 meters.


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## Zhorken (Aug 4, 2011)

Pig-serpent said:


> But the one thing I don't get is how a mile is imperial, and translates to the imperial 5280 feet, when translated to metric it's 1600 meters.


It's not exactly 1600 metres.  Wikipedia says it's "about 1609.3", but 1600 is easier to work with, and it's close enough to get you a mostly accurate answer.


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## 1. Luftballon (Aug 4, 2011)

meters being defined as c*s/299792458 annoys me -- would it really have been so much work just to define it as c*s/3 10^-8? it only changes things after the third sig fig; do they really matter that much?

I mean, if they could define µ₀ to be 4π 10^-7, it's not that much of a stretch to fiddle with lengths to make it work out nicely, is it?


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## opaltiger (Aug 4, 2011)

er, the idea is that all units are defined according to natural constants. Not approximations of natural constants.


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## 1. Luftballon (Aug 5, 2011)

if it were defined, it wouldn't really be an approximation?

admittedly, it was defined in terms of c late enough that changing it would have screwed plenty of things up, but it would have been nice, since I can never remember any further than 299 and that it rounds to 3.00 10^8 m/s.

(if only they'd screwed up a bit less on the expedition to define the meter in terms of the earth!)


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## kenkendude (Aug 17, 2011)

Imperial
Metric hurts me brain lol


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## Autumn (Aug 19, 2011)

imperial, because as an american we learned imperial. well we did have to learn metric for most of my high school science classes and even though I tried to force myself to use metric I'm already absolutely horrid at approximating measurements so metric just confuses me more and I just generally try not to approximate measurements period.

(My attempts to convert to metric aren't really helped by marching band, where we measure in yards (owing to the whole "we march on football fields" thing) and step sizes of 22 1/2 inches.)


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## Superbird (Aug 20, 2011)

Do an 8/4.572 step!


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## nothing to see here (Aug 28, 2011)

Mostly the imperial system (inch/foot/yard, pound, etc.), though I've always had trouble with the ridiculous liquid measurements in that system (cups, pints, quarts, gallons, etc.) and can never remember exactly how many of what goes into the other.

Liters/mililiters seems to make a lot more sense to me.  The only bad part about metric liquid measurements is that soda bottles get oddball numbers like "591 mL" rather than the pretty simple "20 oz.", and it would sound kinda silly to order a "591-milileter bottle of Dr. Pepper" from some place.  Though I guess that could be corrected by sizing them up or down to 500 or 600 mL (500 seems to make the most sense, since the next size up is 1 full liter.)


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## surskitty (Aug 28, 2011)

I use Kelvin, inches/feet, kilograms, and I avoid liquid measurements like the plague.


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## bulbasaur (Aug 28, 2011)

FnrrfYgmSchnish said:


> Liters/mililiters seems to make a lot more sense to me.  The only bad part about metric liquid measurements is that soda bottles get oddball numbers like "591 mL" rather than the pretty simple "20 oz.", and it would sound kinda silly to order a "591-milileter bottle of Dr. Pepper" from some place.  Though I guess that could be corrected by sizing them up or down to 500 or 600 mL (500 seems to make the most sense, since the next size up is 1 full liter.)


I order "a bottle" of Dr. Pepper. If they have two plastic bottle sizes, like 591mL and 2L, I order "a 591 millilitre bottle". :/ It flows off the tongue smoothly for me.


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## Furiianda (Aug 28, 2011)

FnrrfYgmSchnish said:


> Liters/mililiters seems to make a lot more sense to me.  The only bad part about metric liquid measurements is that soda bottles get oddball numbers like "591 mL" rather than the pretty simple "20 oz.", and it would sound kinda silly to order a "591-milileter bottle of Dr. Pepper" from some place.  Though I guess that could be corrected by sizing them up or down to 500 or 600 mL (500 seems to make the most sense, since the next size up is 1 full liter.)


Heheh, 591... thought you might be happy to know that over here (ie. in a place using primarily metric system stuff) drinks are sold in 600mL bottles. Or 1L... 1.5L... nice rounded numbers. >> Depending on the drink of course, but it'd most likely round up if all your measurements were converted tomorrow or something.

You also get 9mL extra ISN'T THAT NEAT?!

(anyway I answered metric, for the record. I guess there are a couple of measurements in cooking books that aren't strictly metric but I don't really do a lot of cooking anyway so that's too minor to bother mentioning Iguess)


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